Dodgers 2024 NLDS win: Dominant bullpen, elimination games and zeroes

LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers are now in the National League Championship Series, but let's look back at how they got here with some highlights and numbers from the thrilling five-game NLDS win over the Padres.

“We won the West, but this team is strong. That's them stacked“, Kiké Hernández as she drank celebratory beer from a Gatorade bottle after Friday's Game 5 win. “Not just in the rotation, but in the lineup, in the bullpen and on defense and the way they run the bases and the way they play the game. They’re a tough team to beat in October.”

But the Dodgers did just that, thanks in large part to Hernández, whose home run accounted for half the runs in Game 5. He had three hits in his two starts during the series.

The main reason for the Dodgers' success was their bullpen. The pitching split was strong for the Dodgers in the NLDS, with the rotation allowing 15 runs in 18⅓ innings, a 7.36 ERA, which matched Yoshinobu Yamamoto's extremely encouraging five scoreless innings that led to the Game 5 win contributed, significantly improved.

But the bullpen was dominant with a 2.10 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 25⅔ innings. Four of the six relief runs allowed came in the final two innings of the blowout loss in Game 2. The seven high-leverage relievers – Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen, Ryan Brasier, Michael Kopech, Alex Vesia, Anthony Banda and Daniel Hudson – left only two runs in 23⅓ frames.

Game 4's bullpen play went so well that the Dodgers at least considered doing it again in Game 5. They instead turned to Yamamoto to get started after discussing and planning for literally hours over the past few days.

“None of this really matters without our pitchers going out there and performing the way they did. They were incredible,” said Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations. “I mean, for a man, they passed the baton to each other. Even if they only hear from them before the game, they don't care when, when, what inning, what role. We're going to put up a zero. And we’ve seen it time and time again.”

The last time the Padres scored during the NLDS was the third inning of Game 3 in San Diego, with a six-run explosion that marked the Dodgers' low point of the series so far. To that point, the Padres had scored 21 runs in the first 20 innings of the series and had scored in eight different innings.

San Diego didn't score in the final 24 innings of the series.

Dodgers pitchers have posted consecutive shutouts in the postseason for the third time in franchise history, along with Games 2-3 of the 2016 NLCS and Games 1-2 of the 2018 NLDS.

In Game 5, with the series still very much in doubt, Fernando Tatis Jr. came to the plate in the third inning with two on and one out, a real trouble spot for Yamamoto. But he delivered a one-two punch, erasing the final threat as the Padres finished the series hitless in their final 19 at-bats.

Teoscar Hernández scored the Dodgers' other run in Game 5 with a home run in the seventh inning. During the series, he led the team in hits (six), home runs (two, tied with Mookie Betts) and RBI (seven). continued his excellent play from the regular season.

“I know I won’t be successful every time these big moments come,” Hernández said after the game. “But not running away from it, that’s what makes me better in every situation.”

Shohei Ohtani hit the massive three-run home run in the second inning of Game 1, setting the stage for a Dodgers offense that responded in every game. But he finished just 4-of-20 (.200/.273/.350) with 10 strikeouts in his first postseason series.

The good news for Ohtani is that he will no longer have to face Yu Darvish this season. Against Darvish in the NLDS he was 0-6 with three strikeouts and this season he was 0-11 with five strikeouts.

Wins in Game 4 and Game 5 improved the Dodgers' record in elimination games to 13-7 (.650) under Dave Roberts. All other MLB teams since 2016 through this year's Division Series round have a record of 60-82 (.423) in such games.

Roberts compared the intensity of this series to the Dodgers' 2020 NLCS against the Braves and even the 2004 Red Sox against the Yankees when he was a player.

“To win this series the way we managed to kind of fall behind — the guys that came into the postseason had a lot of momentum — speaks to the character of our guys,” Roberts said. “It’s right up there.”